BELGRADE (Serbia), April 4 (SeeNews) – The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) said it expects the direct contribution of the travel and tourism industry to Serbia's economy to rise by 2.3% in 2018 to a total of 104.8 billion dinars ($1.09 billion/887 million euro).
The direct contribution of the travel and tourism industry to the Serbian economy amounted to 102.4 billion dinars or 2.3% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017, the WTTC said in its Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2018 report on Serbia.
The total contribution of the tourism industry to the Serbian economy, including the effects from investment, supply chain and induced income impacts, amounted to 294.6 billion dinars in 2017, or 6.7% of GDP, and is expected to grow by 2.7% to 302.5 billion dinars in 2018, WTTC said.
The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is expected to grow by 4.8% to 167.8 billion dinars, or 2.9% of GDP, while the total contribution is forecast to rise by 4.4% to 464.1 billion dinars, or 8.0% of GDP, by 2028.
The travel and tourism industry generated 37,000 jobs directly in Serbia last year, and this is forecast to fall by 2.9% in 2018 to 35,500, or 1.8% of employment. By 2028, travel and tourism will account for 39,000 jobs directly, an increase of 0.9% over the next ten years, the WTTC noted.
The industry attracted capital investment of 33.8 billion dinars in 2017 and this is expected to rise by 5.3% in 2018 and by 2.0% over the next ten years to 43.5 billion dinars in 2028. Travel and tourism’s share of total national investment will fall from 4.1% in 2018 to 3.8% in 2028, the WTTC added.
(1 euro = 118.145 dinars)